A/C in _The Seven Year Itch_

[a440]

Thanks Ken.  

I was always fascinated by them and how they worked.  They were old back when I was there and I remember going to a graduation many year later and all of the units were still in use!  It must have been a well built unit!

 

The "newer" built class rooms each had their own central unit.  Both for Cooling and heat.  There was a little closet that had a tall slim Janitrol Furnace that only had one ribbon burner in it.  I thought they were so cute and interesting.  The cooling condenser unit outside was very slim and round.  Janitrol also.  It looked a lot like the little round Carrier units there came out in the 1980's.

 

I love Air Conditioning cooling and heating history.

 

 

 

 

[danemodsandy]

I Just....

....Watched The Seven Year Itch again for the first time in many, many years. I also noted the record player issue Tom spotted.

The apartment was pretty lavishly air-conditioned - there's the Custom in the living room, and Compacts in both the bedroom and kitchen. Given the "ice-cold air" that came from older units, it would have been a pretty frosty little apartment.

I also found a fun bit of trivia: The music used as a theme for Marilyn (meaning that it's played whenever she shows up or whenever another character is thinking of her), is recycled - it's the main title theme from 1949's A Letter to Three Wives. Since both that movie and The Seven Year Itch were Fox movies scored by Alfred Newman, this was completely legitimate to do, but it was odd to hear music I so closely identify with one movie in another film.

I have submitted the A/C identifications and the bit about the music to the Internet Movie Database, so that they'll be there for other movie buffs and appliance buffs in the future.

 

[danemodsandy]

Just for Grits 'n Giggles....

....Here's the luscious Zenith entertainment console from the film - Cobramatic changer and an AM/FM tuner. To the right, behind the door that is closed, was a TV. The TV is a later rectangular-screen model, not a porthole one.

And here's a shot of the kitchen (2nd photo), with the aforementioned Emerson Compact A/C unit, plus a Kelvinator fridge and a range I can't identify - maybe Roper? Tom Ewell turns the range on, but no flame appears, and after a few minutes, the coffee is done - Hollywood magic, I guess, LOL.

 

[philr]

The range is a Tappan. 

 

[danemodsandy]

Thanks!

Phil, we can always count on you!

I find that we have a thread on this range:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?57475

 

[philr]

There are a few more here:

 

 

http://tappantalk.blogspot.ca/

 

[moparguy]

Absolutely! A Tappan doughboy! Beautiful range, they made them for about 10 years from about 1950 to 1960, with various dash panels (small basic, then a larger with red lettering over white 'Tappan' and 'Deluxe', and the 'visiminder' timer and 'visibake' cooking guide), and the TOL with red lettering over gold, which is lit. And the TOL, like the one in the movie and the one in the post directly above, had red rings around the burner control knobs, they lit when the burner was turned on... making these competitive with the chrome trim, lights, and features on electric ranges!

 

[launderess]

Movies! ran a double helping of MM last night. The Seven Year Itch and Niagara, both were wonderful.

Pass 164 East 61st all the time, and while the place is still there Third Avenue in that area has changed much from when the film was made. From 57th to 62nd or a bit further up many of the old low rise buildings have been torn down to make room for high-rises. Ironically Montgomery Clift's townhouse is right up the street at 217 East 61st Street really just a block away.

Yes, poor Joe DiMaggio; the sight and thought of so many men ogling and so forth his wife was more than he could stand at the time. Happily in the end it was he who managed to see that MM made it "home" safely. The man was especially upset at comments by some men during the skirt blowing scene about how MM was "not" a natural blonde.

"Go man go"! *LOL*

http://https//www.google.com/maps/@...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1spMCTGAX_woLuLqeMrPv8dQ!2e0

 

[danemodsandy]

Launderess:

According to the "Special Features" documentary on the DVD of The Seven Year Itch, the revelation about Marilyn's carpet not matching her drapes came in spite of her donning two pairs of panties for the scene, already aware that the strong lighting needed on the location was going to cause some problems.

All the problems were resolved by building a duplicate of that stretch of Lex on the Fox backlot. I defy anyone to tell without knowing.

 

[launderess]

Much Prefer the Sean Connery/James Bond Version

"Oh, providing the collars and cuffs match,."

 

[tomturbomatic]

"turns the range on, but no flame appears, and after a few minutes, the coffee is done"

Flameless electric cooking--good; flameless gas cooking--not so much so.

 

[danemodsandy]

Followup:

No one will ever have to wonder about the air-conditioners in The Seven Year Itch again, because the info is now on IMDb, the Internet Movie Database.

I submitted the info to IMDb a couple of weeks ago, and it is now posted in the Trivia section for the film. Sadly, there was no way to get Ken Horan credited for it, or Mark for starting the thread that led to Ken's contribution.

But it's now up, and there'll be no mistaking those A/C units ever again, thanks to the combined efforts of AW members.

A snap of the info and a link to the Trivia page for The Seven Year Itch:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048605/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2